114 ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE. [CHAP.
to places and visual images. As to thousands and perhaps tens of thousands of specimens and plants, can remember the exact spot where each was gathered. As to a multitude of facts that should have interested me, my memory is a blank and the original impression revived with difficulty if at all. . . , Very retentive and accurate as to the sequence of impressions from early childhood onwards.
"Father - Remarkably retentive memory ; quoted long passages from classical authors not seen for a very long time previous. Shortly
before his death, at 73, recited a long passage from ` Gibbon,' not read for fifty years before. Mother-Memory not reliable generally, but clinging strongly to special scenes and events."
2. " I recognize most of the animal forms which I have previously examined, but I forget easily the details of their structure, also their systematic names (specific, not generic). Likewise I have a good memory for faces, but not
for names of persons ; could never remember historical dates."
